Review: Tesseract Theatre Company's THE MAD ONES Tells a Moving Coming of Age Story

Emotional coming of age stories are common in cinema. The film industry has told countless stories of young people transitioning between adolescence and young adulthood. Some are comedies and some are romantic tragedies, however the genre is less represented in musical Theatre. The Tesseract Theatre Company is staging a recently written coming of age tale with their current production of The Mad Ones. Premiering in 2017, Kait Kerrigan and Bree Lowdermilk’s musical tells the story of Sam, a high school senior who is faced with profound loss amid decisions about college, personal relationships, and her future after high school ends. While The Mad Ones is billed as a musical, it plays more like an operetta that is heavy on the score and sung dialogue.  

Director and Choreographer Kevin Corpuz uses the entire space in the Marcelle black box theater. He choreographs the action on and around Todd Schaefer’s multi-level set piece. He has cast a quartet of actors who have significant skill acting through sung dialogue to tell this poignant story. He draws performances from his actors that wring the drama and some laughs from the script. Corpuz has staged a briskly moving and entertaining production that is mostly successful.  

Music Director Joel Schoen does a nice job with an unbalanced score, and conducts three other musicians (Adam Rugo, Chuck Evans, and Zach Neumann) to create the sound of a much larger orchestra. While played well, Kerrigan and Lowdermilk’s score lacks the cohesive feeling of a well-put-together musical. The cast sang the score well enough, however there was an opportunity to coach and direct the vocal performance, especially when actors playing the two lead characters go into their belt voices. In their attempts to sing that part of the score, the lyrics and some of the tone was lost and the score was over sung.  

All four performers, Melissa Felps (Sam), Grace Langford (Kelly), Sarah Gene Dowling (Beverly), and Cody Cole (Adam) had substantial presence on the stage, and Corpuz’s effect on their performances was evident. Dowling’s performance as Beverly was the best of the four because of both her acting and singing choices. She sang her part of the score with lovely aplomb. She conveyed the overbearing maternal demands a parent can put upon a teenage daughter, especially one who has different ideas about her future. Dowling's performance was honest and genuine. She, and the other actors, were believable in their characterizations.  

Felps, Langford and Cole played the trio of teenagers who drive most of the narrative. Felps effectively conveys Sam’s angst as she wrestles with pain, loss, and the anxiety high school students face when they are making life decisions. Her acting choices are authentic, believable and the best part of her performance. There were times when Felps handled her part of the score well and times when she was slightly off pitch. Her and Langford’s belting did not enhance the quality of the sung dialogue or the overall storytelling. Langford is dynamic and fun as Sam’s mischievous friend Kelly. She is a force that brings significant energy to the stage in every one of her scenes. Cole is delightful as Adam, Sam’s naïve boyfriend who wants to move at a much slower pace than Sam. His performance on “The Proposal” is fun and cheeky. It is one of the highlights of the production.  

Overall, Tesseract’s The Mad Ones connects with the audience to tell Sam’s moving coming of age story despite a few problems along the way. Corpuz's direction and the cast’s acting performances are the reason this show succeeds. Each of the four actors create likable and relatable characters that make this show worth seeing. The Mad Ones continues at The Marcelle Theatre through November 12th. Click the link below for tickets. 

PHOTO CREDIT: Florence Flick 

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